Even more good news: Bill's urologist just called to tell us that the pathology report came in this afternoon and everything is clear! (He was an Air Force doctor until recently and said he is used to reports taking much longer there) So that is another big load lifted. The fog too has lifted, the sun is shining and I am going for a walk! Bill must stick very close to the bathroom, but he is still hoping to make the Willie Nelson concert on the 11th.

More good news: we came home from the Surgery Center a little after noon, hungry and happy. The procedure lasted about 30 minutes. The stent was removed and no more tumor was found. Biopsies were done on the prostate and bladder and those results will be in probably next week due to the New Year holiday. Bill is comfortable and "on his own": no catheter. Some special x-rays with dye, IVP, will be done in 6 weeks. Cystoscopies will be done every 3 months. Since there is a 70% chance of recurrence of this type of cancer, there are some treatment options. One is a local chemotherapy and the other is BCG, in which live TB cells in a viscous solution are sloshed around in the bladder for 2 hours once a week for six weeks. The latter is the most effective but also can have more serious side effects. So there some options to ponder and decisions to make.
If there are those of you who wish to send comments, email is more private than commenting on this blog if you prefer and it provides us with a return address. Bill is bdendy@aol.com and Barbara is bdendy2@aol.com. If you want to start a Blog of your own, go to blogspot.com. It is easy to set up and free! And they didn't make me say it.
Happy New Year! And dance one for me!

Tomorrow is the day. We have had a good week. Nice Christmas, some social gatherings and meals with friends, long walks, much-needed rain, welcome calls and visits, good books and way too much food. Bill has to be at the Surgery Center at 6:30 am. He is delighted to be getting it over early. An hour later would have suited me just fine! I am encouraged though. Perhaps they feel it will be quick and uneventful, not likely to run overtime and mess up the day's surgery schedule. Perhaps I am grasping for straws! Bill is his usual pessimistic self. He appreciates everyone else's good thoughts to make up for it. He will probably be home tomorrow night. I will post again soon as I get a chance tomorrow.

Some of you folks are asking me why I haven't added any new posts . So I guess I do have readers! That is great. Bill is doing well and feeling better every day. He actually went to a meeting in the next town this morning and seemed really glad to be getting out of the house and back to the real world. He is taking walks in the neighborhood (not hikes) and we have been out to lunch and breakfast in the last week. Our son Greg is coming for a visit from the Bay area this weekend. He and wife Alex are going to Kauai for 10 days over Christmas and New Years. Bill goes back in for 2nd-look surgery to clean out anything missed and remove the stent on the 29th so I will certainly post again after that. In the meantime I need to get busy on my Christmas/New Year cards. Cheers!

Bill and I went to his doctor today for a post op and catheter removal. The removal was much easier than anticipated and a great relief. Bill is talking about going out to dinner tonight! My cooking is boring us both! Bill is scheduled for a second similar surgery on December 29. (He will do anything to avoid dancing on New Year's Eve!) The stent in the kidney ureter placed during last surgery has to be removed and Dr. Ferguson will go over the bladder again to scrape out anything he missed the first time. He said it was quite cloudy toward the end last time and he couldn't see very well. Again we will wait for a pathology report. This is outpatient surgery via the urethra, no incision. At least we know what to expect and it seems much less intimidating, although we are not looking forward to it. We just hope he has recovered enough to go to Willie Nelson's concert in Davis at the Mondavi Center on Jan. 11! We have good seats!